Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 13
First Report - DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work
Published 29 Jun 2021
Paragraph 66
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that, as part of its commitment to levelling up, the Government should establish a new publicly funded advisory body of experts with a focus on the potential impact of changes in the world of work on different groups in the labour market. The Government should use the now-closed UK Commission for Employment and Skills as a model for what it could look like: that is, a publicly funded but independent body whose membership could consist of employers, trade unions, training providers and representatives from the third sector. The role of this new body should be to produce intelligence about the impact that changes such as automation may have on different demographic groups, including those that are most likely to experience the effects of these changes, and provide advice and make policy recommendations to the Government on that basis. It should work with and provide guidance to employers, including about how they can increase the diversity of their workforce through changes to their recruitment practices, such as encouraging more employers to adopt name- blind recruitment.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, First Report - DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work (HC 216), paragraph 66, 29 June 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 November 2021 (deadline 29 August 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government responds mainly by describing existing cross-departmental work, with BEIS, DfE and the ONS cited for several areas, and says it has no plans for Universal Credit claimant markers.
- On the recommended labour market strategy, DWP says it is "working with other departments, particularly DfE and BEIS", and that BEIS "is the department with responsibility for employment rights".
- On the Skills and Employment Survey, it says it is "solely a decision for the academics and ESRC" whether the survey runs again, rather than committing DWP funding.
- On assistive technology, the Disability Unit "will invest up to £1m in 2021 to 2022" in a new Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology, with findings to the Unit "by March 2022" and progress reported by summer 2022.
- On paternity leave reform, it says BEIS is analysing survey data and 2019 consultation responses, and that this "will inform government policy on parental leave and pay going forward".